Atco buys Resolute Bay’s South Camp Inn, expands Nunavut presence

Aziz Kheraj's business assets change ownership

Among the assets being sold by 953731 NWT Ltd., an Inuit-owned company managed by Resolute Bay businessman and former mayor Aziz Kheraj: the Airport Hotel. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Atco Structures and Logistics, an Alberta-based firm that builds and manages accommodations in remote locations around the world, has acquired the majority of assets of Resolute Bay’s 953731 NWT Ltd., the company said Sept. 13.

The assets of 953731 NWT Ltd., a firm managed by Aziz Kheraj, also known by the name “South Camp Enterprises,” includes a fleet of construction equipment as well as the South Camp Inn and the Airport Hotel.

It’s listed on the Government of Nunavut’s NNI directory as a company with 10 employees and at least 51 per cent beneficial ownership by Nunavut residents, offering a long list of trades and services that include construction, accommodations, catering, auto rental, salvage and many others.

Nine employees associated with the operation of the company’s assets will move over to Atco, the news release said.

“This acquisition helps us to build upon our reputation as a premier service provider in the North,” said Harry Wilmot, Atco’s president and chief operating officer, in a news release. “Purchasing these assets provides us the additional capacity to support the growing demand for operational support services in northern Canada.”

The 953731 NWT Ltd. firm has operated in Resolute Bay for 17 years.

The news release said the acquisition will complement Atco’s presence in the High Arctic, and will be used as “a foundation to support resource projects as well as Arctic sovereignty and infrastructure initiatives undertaken by the Canadian Forces and other federal organizations in the region.”

Atco Structures and Logistics has also been operating in Resolute Bay since 1970.

The company set up a remote camp for Operation Nanook in 2010 and 2011, runs the Narwhal Hotel near the airport, and provides logistical services for the Polar Continental Shelf Project.

Atco Structures and Logistics is part of the Atco Group of Companies, which boasts more than 8,800 employees around the world and assets of approximately $13 billion.